Get to know and work with 127 Media
Based in Burscough, Lancashire, 127 Media was formed in 2014 when owner Gary Sargent took voluntary redundancy from the technology company he was working at in Burnley, East Lancashire. Having spent the previous 20 years working in the technology industry in various sales, product management and marketing roles, he decided to go it alone.
Throughout his career, Gary has been at the cutting edge, watching new technologies emerge and develop. From standalone PCs to the birth of the internment, eCommerce, mobile tech and social media, he has been there from the start, helping to bring new products and services to market.
A focused and dedicated professional with attention to detail and a passion for technology, Gary has a breadth of knowledge that encompasses the supply chain. From manufacturing, through distribution, to the resale of technology products and services to businesses of all sizes.
Using the knowledge and skills developed over his career and looking for a fresh challenge, Gary decided to start his own business and 127 Media was born.
Having been involved in eCommerce, product management and digital marketing since 2010, Gary had already seen a meteoric rise in online use, especially since the emergence of smartphones and mobile technology. Knowing how labour-intensive, time-consuming and costly it can be for small to medium-sized businesses to effectively run an online portfolio, Gary decided to focus the business on digital platforms including websites, social media, online business profiles and reviews.
Business owners no longer have a choice whether they have an online presence. As the use of mobile technology in our always-connected society, rises rapidly year after year, it has become an absolute necessity.
The choice now lies in how businesses manage this function, not if.
Some business owners spend their time trying to do it themselves and give up before seeing any results. Why? Because they soon realise how much time it takes. Then, seeing it as not a good use of time, any activities based around creating digital content for a website or social media become increasingly less important and eventually stop.
The same can also be said for making the mistake of giving the task to another member of staff, maybe a junior administrator or receptionist, then wondering why their productivity is dropping. As they spend longer and longer each day, creating content and managing the business’s online platforms.
Other options are to employ someone to do it full-time, which can be expensive. With the average social media manager’s salary being upwards of £30k and a website manager at around £28k, even if one person could be found to fulfil both roles, this option is out of reach for many small to medium-sized businesses. This also comes with added employment administration and the day-to-day management of a new member of staff.
However, in order to manage a successful online strategy, these are options that must be considered.
Another option to consider would be to work with a digital agency such as 127 Media. A full-stack digital agency that works alongside you, as a part of your extended business team, to build their digital brand, provide great customer service and generate additional revenues.
What's in a name?
It’s not always evident how businesses get their names, whilst others are immediately obvious.
Here’s the story of how the name and the logo for 127 Media came about.
The name 127 (one-two-seven) Media was first conceived in July 2014, while I (Gary) was doing a charity walk from Liverpool to Leeds, along the towpath of the Leeds/Liverpool canal, in aid of Families Need Fathers, a charity close to my heart.
The significance of the name comes from the canal being 127.5 miles long from end to end. It would have been a bit of a mouthful keeping the half in, it also made finding a domain easier, so 127 it was. The blue swish above the name is a stylised interpretation of the canal with Liverpool at the left tip and Leeds on the right.
The walk took six days, starting in Liverpool on Sunday 20th July 2014 and ending in Leeds on Friday 26th. Apart from one day when a friend joined me to walk from Chorley to Burnley, the walk was done alone.
Being alone for five days with only yourself and assorted wildlife for companionship gives you time to think and that’s precisely what happened and where the idea for 127 Media was born. It launched the following month in August 2014 and has been trading ever since. With a wide and varied customer base with one thing in common, they all need help with their online presence.
More so today, than at any other time, it is important to have a recognisable brand. Your logo is just part of this and should reflect your business in some way. Plus it needs to be easily recognisable across the many places it will be seen, not just online but in print too.
So, in a nutshell, 127 Media help businesses of all sizes navigate the online world, build their digital brand, provide great customer service and generate additional revenues.
Much like the working barges that navigated the canal during the industrial revolution, helping the coal, cotton and fabric merchants they worked for to build their brand and sell their goods on the national and global markets, and many did. Those that didn’t or couldn’t, unfortunately, fell by the way.
We are now living in the fourth industrial revolution of the digital age and businesses of all sizes must adapt to meet the challenges that face them in the digital marketplace. Let 127 Media be your guide as we navigate the always-changing digital landscape and don’t get left behind.
If you’d like to talk about getting your digital brand match fit, please get in touch, I’ll be happy to help.